Cloak and Dagger Paranoia
Overview The Cloak and Dagger Paranoia style (also known as "The Invisible Man") consists of using the Cloak and Dagger to make your way to heavily locked down Engineer nests, hiding in a safe spot whilst in earshot/view of the Engineers, and spamming voice commands at them. The consistent sound of voices, as well as a chat box being spammed with false messages, creates paranoia and annoyance. The victims spend more time looking around for the Spy and requesting spycheckers that could be used on the front line than concentrating on their machines or agressing teammates. You can also relay enemy movements and classes to your team, as well as the position and number of sentries in the nest. Tools *'Watch used: '''Cloak and Dagger *'Primary Weapon: N/A (Passive tactic) *'Aim: '''Creation of false paranoia, distracting enemies (mostly Engineers), reconnaissance. Method Section 1: Infiltration Using the Cloak and Dagger, make your way through the enemy front line to the area of an enemy's sentry nest, which are usually situated: *'Nearby or on the final point (RED)(CP): Defending teams either set up here and turtle after letting the enemy take the preceding point(s). This is most prevalent on Dustbowl. *'Covering the Cart tracks/final destination (RED/BLU)(PL/PLR)': Once again, the defending team sets up to cover the attacking carts' path, or the final point. In Payload Race both teams usually place defensive sentry guns. *'Inside or covering Chokepoints (RED/BLU)(Any Map Type)': Engineers usually set up here to suprise the enemy whilst passing through the small space. However, these nests usually become overwhelmed before you can act, so their occurence is fairly rare. When you have made it through, stand still somewhere that is out of the way, preferably in a fairly open space to avoid getting bumped into accidentally by the enemy, and recharge your cloak. Then make your way to the nest, which can be easily heard from their distinctive Sentry beeps and the sounds of joyous Engineers. Section 2: Positioning While there are specific positions for this tactic in each map (refer to the map articles to find out), there are a few rules of thumb to follow when positioning: *'Not too close to the Engineers': While it may be thrilling to stand right behind the Engineers, or on top of their buildings, the paranoia you create will engulf the players around the point, which includes spychecking buildings for Spies standing upon them. This was a problem before the introduction of the Cloak and Dagger when attempting this with the Invisibility Watch. *'Not too far from the Engineers': There's no point trying to create paranoia when the Engineers can hardly hear you. *'Somewhere off the ground': On crates, barrels, or if you're knowledgable, on rock formations. The higher up you are, the less likely that a Spychecker will be able to catch you by a stray shot; they usually stick to ground level. Make your way to the position whilst cloaked, stopping if necessary to recharge, and remain cloaked upon arrival to your spot. Section 3: Creating Paranoia Here's where the fun begins. It is the most effective to disguise as an Engineer, locate the Engineer you're disguised as, and whilst hovering your crosshair over him, utilise the "Spy!" voice command. The repeated usage of this command will cause his chat box in the bottom left to be filled up with voice commands he isn't saying. And if you're in his earshot, he knows that there's a Spy nearby accusing him. This usually triggers a period of running around his buildings with a wrench, whacking them and nearby corners to try and rout the Spy. Continuing in your voice command spam, the Engineer will himself use the "Spy!" command, alerting his teammates, usually fellow Engineers in a nest, to the presence of the Spy. They too will commence short range Spychecking in the vicinity of buildings. The longer you continue in using the voice command, the greater the Engineers' annoyance and paranoia will be. They will request Spycheckers, usually in the form of Pyros, to commence in longer range Spychecking with the flamethrower. The Engineers will either run further away from the buildings, whacking corners with the Wrench, or shooting at corners and such with the Shotgun or Pistol. You need to be careful not to be caught by the stray gunfire, which may come to your position; they have 200 Pistol rounds after all, as well as a dispenser. Don't move too drastically, strafe slightly from side to side, whilst spamming the commands. Now you can choose to continue this, or try for a sap in co-ordination with a team uber. With their concentration elsewhere, the enemies will be surprised to notice an uber coming in destroying their emplacements. Reasons for the use of this playstyle Pros This playstyle is fairly passive; resulting in either no or very little damage caused directly by yourself. However, the more distracted and annoyed you make your enemy, then the less likely they will be prepared to counter an ubercharge. The playstyle also aids in protecting ubers whilst they're being built up. Pyros can rush into a small area, light up your medics, die, and let the afterburn kill them. But by creating paranoid Engineers, they will not attempt to push for your medics, wherever they may hide; instead, they attempt to flame into every corner looking for the phantom Spy that is plaguing the Engineers. It is also incredibly fun to see your enemy scuttle about, weapons being flung or shot, trying to find you, helplessly calling out "Spy!", whilst you just sit there, looking down upon them. Cons Unfortunately, this playstyle's passive nature may prove more of a harm for your team's progress than a help. If your team has no interest in building ubers, or is being destroyed by Heavy/Medic pairs, or Soldiers, then it would be much wiser to backstab them than to stand still whilst using voice commands. Remember, your priority as a Spy is to help the team, as it is the priority for every class. And due to the passive nature of the technique, it may not suit players with a short attention span.